"....everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. Who then overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." 1 John 5:3-5

TSA Stands for Thorough Sexual Assault
Anger and Rebellion are the name of the game as resistance intensified this week from the flying public and airline industry employees against the new Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) "enhanced screening procedures" (a.k.a. sexual assault). TSA and federal government officials insisted that the measures are essential and the harassment will continue until morale improves. For your safety, of course.

The nationwide outrage is due to multiple cases of TSA abuse coming to light, with stories of young children groped, exposed private parts and screeners' hands going down flyers' pants, and even taking nail clippers from armed soldiers1. Lawsuits have been filed against the TSA, and some members of Congress have expressed concern that the TSA has gone too far and may have to be investigated.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano wrote an op-ed in USA Today titled "Scanners are safe, pat-downs discreet."2 Nothing to see here, folks, just move through the machine. She argued, "The deployment of this technology and the implementation of these measures represent the evolution of our national security architecture, an evolution driven by intelligence, risk and a commitment to be one step ahead of those who seek to do us harm."

Unfortunately, the good secretary failed to point out that "those who seek to do us harm" are almost exclusively young Muslim males, and, logically, they should be the first ones profiled for additional screening.

Instead, the TSA pretends that we're all potential threats and, therefore, we all get to enjoy either the mechanized body scans or the groping -- or, as Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) dismissively calls the latter, the "love pats." If you think the TSA scanners now being deployed around the nation -- thanks to $73 million in Obama money -- are not invasive, you might reconsider after viewing this virtual strip search3, which is a low resolution reproduction of a typical high resolution TSA scan.

There are three primary manufacturers of body scanners purchased by the TSA: one made by L-3 Communications, one from American Science and Engineering and one from Rapiscan. The scanner manufacturers are all located in leftist congressional districts4 in Massachusetts and California, those represented by Demo Reps. Ed Markey, Niki Tsongas and Jane Harman. Perhaps this is mere coincidence, but we doubt it.

Obviously, airline security is an important issue, but there are better ways to achieve it without trampling the Fourth Amendment or encouraging uniformed personnel to commit what in any other circumstance would be prosecuted as felonious assault. The Israelis, for many years the prime targets of jihadi terrorism, have one of the best airline security records in the world, but they don't resort to wide-scale screening. Using intelligence analysis and common sense, they profile people, not things, allowing them to focus on the most probable threats with minimal disturbance of those who aren't likely to be terrorists. While that might offend the sensibilities of travelers who fit the terrorist profile, at least grandma and the grandkids would be free from abusive TSA gropers.